


Rise and Shine

by cathrheas



Series: Commissions [2]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, F/F, Fluff, Lazy Mornings, Post-War, Sunrises, hints of angst, where are the supports intsys? where are they
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:41:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21864658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cathrheas/pseuds/cathrheas
Summary: Dorothea and Hilda watch the sunrise together.
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Hilda Valentine Goneril
Series: Commissions [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1753813
Comments: 3
Kudos: 32





	Rise and Shine

**Author's Note:**

> A commission for dappershark! Feel free to check out [my Twitter](https://twitter.com/cathrheas)!

Dorothea was often disoriented when she woke up, laying silently and looking around the room with tired eyes. Since she was young, she always had nightmares of being taken away somewhere. Swept away into oblivion, gone and forgotten. Sometimes she woke up and saw her bedroom, its familiar furnishings, and felt confused—who had brought her back there?

Then, her breathing steadied, and she eyed the many little trinkets she had sitting around her room, and remembered that she was at home. There was nothing to worry about. She had never left.

The war had only ended a year ago, although it felt like yesterday. Sometimes, her hands still felt bloody. But, in the mornings, when she realized where she was, she didn’t feel bloody at all. She felt clean, and soft, and innocent, and pretty, and all of the other things she felt a woman should be. For the first few weeks after the end of the war, she revelled in that feeling alone, but soon, she had the pleasure of waking up with Hilda next to her.

Hilda was always rather lazy, and she liked to sleep in, while Dorothea had grown used to getting up early. In the summer, she was glad to wake up early, opening their curtains and watching the sun rise from their bed. She was fine with watching it by herself, but sometimes, Hilda surprised her.

“Dorothea...lay back down,” Hilda whispered.

Dorothea turned around, looking at Hilda. Her face was half-buried in the pillow, her hair was a mess. Dorothea reached over and smoothed it out. “I’m watching the sunrise.”

“Yeah...I can tell. Since it’s in my eyes, and whatnot.”

“Sorry, sorry. But...it’s the simple things, y’know?” Dorothea turned back to the window, her chin in her hands. If Hilda wanted to go back to sleep, she would have went, even if Dorothea wasn’t laying with her. Instead, Hilda sat up on her knees, shuffling over to Dorothea and laying against Dorothea’s back. “There you go. See? Isn’t this nice?”

Hilda hummed. “It’s special. I haven’t seen the sunrise in a while.”

“I know you haven’t,” Dorothea teased. Hilda came from behind Dorothea, opting to sit next to her, their legs pressed together through their nightgowns. Hilda laid her head on Dorothea’s shoulder. It felt so natural, like that. Like Dorothea had watched the sunrise with Hilda a million times. “We never had the chance, during the war. It always felt like there was something to do.”

“I know, right? But, now...there’s not much to do but just live. Be happy. That’s how life is supposed to be. To think we wasted five years like that...” Dorothea bit the inside of her lip. She shouldn’t have brought the war up. It was bound to ruin her morning. Then, Hilda linked their arms together, and something inside of her settled. “No need in complaining now, right? All’s well that ends well. Even if I got up early.”

They sat there so long, two of the most talkative girls in Fódlan, and didn’t say a word. Hilda didn’t snore, so Dorothea didn’t know if she had fallen asleep or not, and she didn’t move to look. The sun looked gorgeous, and Hilda did too—if Hilda had fallen asleep, then that was alright. They had nothing to do but live and be happy, anyway.

By the time the sun had fully peaked over the horizon, Dorothea was feeling a bit sleepy herself, warm from Hilda’s body heat and the rays coming through the window. “Hilda,” she sang.

“Mmhmm?”

“Are you sleeping?”

“No. Just...enjoying myself.”

Dorothea chuckled, leaning down to kiss the crown of Hilda’s head. “I’m enjoying myself, too, then. But the sun is already up, so let’s get back in bed.”

“Close the curtains, please,” Hilda said, yawning. She untangled her arm from Dorothea’s, swinging her legs back onto the bed and getting under the blankets. Dorothea pulled the curtains closed—they were warm against her skin, but nothing felt better than Hilda. 

When Dorothea turned around, Hilda was looking at her, tiredly, but expectantly. “Are you going back to sleep?”

“Probably. It’ll be a lot easier if you come snuggle with me, though,” Hilda said, smiling into her pillowcase. How could Dorothea turn down a request like that? She gladly joined Hilda in the bed, looping her arms around Hilda’s neck so they could snuggle closer. Dorothea loved seeing Hilda’s hair down. It was so irresistibly long and pretty, Dorothea had to comb it through with her fingers. Hilda liked it, too, sighing with content into Dorothea’s neck. “Yeah, I might fall asleep, now.”

“We don’t have anything to do today,” Dorothea mused. “Although, I think Petra invited us to tea, later. Let’s not miss it...”

“That’s later. For now, we’re cuddling.” 

Dorothea was, distantly, worried about oversleeping. She was used to working off of borrowed time, rushing to get things done, because she never knew when they might suddenly be impossible to do. She had tried to push the war out of her mind, but it was nearly impossible. “Hilda?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you ever forget that we’re  _ not _ in a war?”

Hilda moved back a little, pouting. “Is something on your mind?”

“I don’t know,” Dorothea admitted. “I was just so used to war, I guess. And battle. I was so excited for it to be over, but now that it is, I feel like nothing’s really changed, even though I can see that things  _ have _ changed. Does that make sense?”

“I think it’s you that’s changed,” Hilda said. “Not in the bad way, but...we were so young when it all started, y’know? We were just students. Really. There’s no way that wouldn’t impact you in one way or another. Of course it changes the way you see things. Maybe that’s a good thing! Now that you’ve seen what war looks like, you know how good peace feels.”

Yeah. Dorothea  _ did _ know how peace felt. Peace felt good. Peace felt like home, like Hilda, like watching the sunrise. “Keep showing me how good peace feels,” Dorothea murmured. “Please?”

“It feels like heaven.” Hilda put her face back into Dorothea’s neck. Dorothea felt eyelashes against her skin as Hilda closed her eyes. “The first step to peace, though, is sleeping in on a weekday.”


End file.
